|
Joe Davison (TechAnalyst.com), Stuart
Wood (Wifi.com) and Frank Michlick (SharedReviews.com)
gave some pointers on incorporating content and interactive elements
into websites. Wood had some advice that is of critical importance.
If you want to vastly increase your chances of developing success,
"develop a name about a subject you have an in interest in and
passion for." Even with today's Web 2.0 plug-ins, developing is
hard work and if you do not love the topic the site is about you
will soon lose interest in it.
The final Tuesday morning session was devoted
to Domain Appraisal and Evaluation and featured
panelists Peter Lamson (NameMedia), Victor Pitts (Moniker.com),
Jay Finnan (Sedo.com), Jakob Knightly (NameDrive.com)
and John Tompkins (Trellian) with Sevan Derderian
serving as moderator. They discussed the various factors that make
domains valuable. While a PPC revenue stream is an obvious parameter,
Lamson noted that his company sells many low or no traffic domains
at good prices because they have a memorable and brandable ring to
them, passing what is often called the "radio test." That
is, if you heard a domain name on the radio, is it one you could
easily remember?
Domain
Appraisal and Evaluation Panel (left to right): Victor Pitts,
Peter Lamson, John Tompkins, Jay Finnan and Jakob
Knightly
When this session moved to the audience Q &
A segment, many of the questions revolved around values outside the
red hot .com sector. Lamson said he saw interest in .net
falling off while ccTLDs were gaining strength. He sees a lot
of potential in .us, noting that the American country
code would likely benefit from the sheer number of small to medium
sized businesses (SMBs) coming online. There are 17 million
SMBs in the U.S. alone and more than 100 million around the
world that need digital ID's.
On the flip side of the coin, most of the
panelists were less optimistic about "re-purposed" ccTLDs,
country codes being marketed to mean something else. In response to
a question about .TV, Finnan said the extension faces a lot of
obstacles. "The variable pricing is a nightmare for
buyers - a domain can cost thousands a year to renew," Finnan
said, adding "it would not be at the top of my list for
investment." Pitts was bullish on International Domains (IDNs),
saying they are growing rapidly in demand and usage as Internet
adoption continues to grow even faster in other regions around the
world than it is in the U.S.
| Lamson returned to speak at a luncheon
sponsored by NameMedia where he was joined by the company's
Senior VP for Direct Search, Brian Carr. They detailed
innovations in the aftermarket and parking platforms at NameMedia.
Lamson said the company did $20 million in aftermarket sales
the first half of this year and that business was continuing to
accelerate. Their average domain sales price was $1,764 with
a median price of $1,300. We went into |
Name
Media's Peter Lamson (left) and Brian Carr
at Tuesday's luncheon |
| great detail on
NameMedia's AfternicDLS sales program in our current Cover
Story and I would recommend you review that article
for more information. |
After lunch the balance of the day was crammed
with eight seminars, running two at a time on the dual-track
schedule. The first twinbill featured a panel on ccTLD Power
and another called Aftermarket 101. On the dais for
the ccTLD session was Ahmed Farooq (Enthropia.com), Richard
Schreier (Pool.com), Jakob Knightly (NameDrive.com) and Alan
Ezeir (Global Domains International). Attorney Steve Sturgeon,
who moderated the discussion, called country code domains the
"next frontier."
|
Ahmed
Farooq (Enthropia.com) |
There are 240 different ccTLD extensions in the
world and many of them represent excellent investment opportunities.
Most people are interested in the largest industrial nations (China's
.cn is among those that are currently exploding) but Farooq
cautioned investors not to underestimate the spending power of
buyers in smaller nations around the globe who are flocking to the
web (and he is putting his own money where his mouth is).
Schreier, the CEO at Pool.com, showed a slide
series with a lot of interesting stats. He said the fastest growing
ccTLDs in terms of sheer numbers include .de (Germany), .uk
(Great Britain), .eu (European Union) and .nl
(Netherlands) while the fastest growth percentage wise is being
enjoyed by Russia's .ru, Korea's .kr and France's .fr.
His own country's ccTLD (Canada's .ca) was growing at a 24%
annual clip compared to 10% annual growth for .com in Canada.
|
While ccTLDs were being dissected in the Aspen
room, those across the Sheraton's conference level in the Willow
room were enjoying the Aftermarket 101 session. The
panel included Jay Finnan (Sedo.com), Kerry Kelley (SnapNames.com),
Scott Ross (Promediary.com), Tom Murphy (NameMedia), Nate
Curran (GoDaddy.com) and Victor Pitts (Moniker.com). This
seminar gave attendees the basics of buying and selling domain names
and details on how the various aftermarket venues work (for further
information, we would again refer you to our current Cover
Story that is devoted to the accelerating boom in
aftermarket sales).
When people wanted to take a break from the
seminar schedule they could, at any time during the day, drop into
the Douglas Room for coffee, refreshments and entertainment.
Parked.com had sponsored the room Monday, setting up Playstation 3
and Wii consoles (that they later gave away). NameDrive sponsored
the room Tuesday and Wednesday and drew a continual stream of
visitors Tuesday with a poker tournament that offered shares in a
250-name domain portfolio as an incentive to play (as if people
needed an incentive!).
The
chips are down in the Douglas Room Tuesday (Aug. 14)
Back on the business floor, the next seminar
doubleheader offered an ICANN
Roundtable and a session called Monetization World
that explored the many options available for earning money from
domains. The ICANN Roundtable panel featured ICANN's Registrar
Liaison Manager Mike Zupke, ICANN's Chief Registrar Liaison Tim
Cole, Jothan Frakes (DomainSponsor.com), Richard Lau (DomainManager.com)
and moderator John Berryhill.
| The professional domain investment/development
community has been at odds with ICANN recently over what
have been viewed as overly generous contract concessions
given to registries (at the expense of domain registrants)
despite overwhelming opposition from the community. Frakes,
who has followed ICANN for years and attended many of their
meetings, urged domain owners to get involved in the
ICANN process by joining one of the organization's
constituencies and if possible attending an |
Mike
Zupke (left) and Tim Cole represented ICANN
at the Domain Roundtable conference |
| ICANN meeting in person where
they can participate in public sessions. The first ICANN
meeting held in the U.S. in five years is coming up October
29 - November 2 in Los
Angeles. By sending representatives to
Roundtable, ICANN made a good step in our direction by
showing they are interested in forging a better relationship
with domain professionals. |
The panel for the Monetization World seminar
included Yossi Goldlust (LookSmart.com), Chris Ambler (Enom.com),
Hal Bailey (Google), Joe Davison (TechAnalyst.com)
and
Ofer Ronen (Sendori.com). Joe Davison said he had started
making money with websites when he was 15 years old when he built a
website about videogames. Davison said for some types of domains it
is wise to monetize with CPA (cost per acquisition models) rather
than PPC (pay per click). He said CPA worked especially well for him
with credit card domains because the card companies pay high fees
for new signups. Bailey cautioned domain owners to avoid trying to
profit from trademark sensitive domains as there is a real risk that
you will end up losing far more money in a lawsuit than you will
gain from this kind of activity.
The next pair of seminars offered a choice
between Madison Avenue and Dropping Domain
Treasures. Scott Ross (Promediary.com) and Yossi
Goldlust (LookSmart.com) anchored the Madison Avenue session
while Chris Ambler (Enom.com), Kerry Kelley (SnapNames.com)
and Richard Schreier (Pool.com) shared their expertise on
drop catching in the Dropping Domain Treasures seminar.
| In the Madison Avenue session, Ross commented on the resistance many ad
agencies have shown toward buying high-ticket domains saying, "Many ad agencies
don't get it and don't want to get it." Ross
added "high-end corporate domain sales are often more complex and difficult to navigate when ad agencies are
consulted. Agency execs have a tendency to quickly resist because they
can't take creative ownership of the idea. That's the agency ego. More
importantly, the client's domain investment is a non-commissionable expense |
Scott
Ross (Promediary.com) |
| which is often yanked from the agency's commissionable budget. Instead of
quickly recognizing powerful, industry-centric domains as a lucrative and
perpetual conduits for high-performing online advertising placements,
conflicted and shortsighted agency execs often place their own interests
above their clients' best interests." However, Ross
said "having the know-how and initiative to lay-out a long-term online ad strategy which
benefits the agency can convert contentious ad execs into supportive allies."
Ross emphasized that the corporate selling process begins with comprehensive
research into corporate structure and evaluations of each prospect's fiscal
state and existing marketing initiatives. "Cold calls most often lead
inexperienced domain sellers through a wasted sequence of misdirected
pitches and unreturned messages," Ross said. "Pitching senior executive decision-makers
who have the grasp and direct authority to take action is imperative."
This is an area where Ross' brokerage firm has special
expertise (typically, Ross will only broker domains with the potential to sell for
$250,000 or more).
|
The final pair of Tuesday seminars focused on
the Domain Industry Image (and ways to improve it)
and
Domain Traffic (a sequel to Monday's Parking Services
Summit that explored how the various PPC companies view the current
state and future potential of the direct navigation market). The
panel for the latter session featured Greg
Manriquez (NameDrive.com), Andrew Wright (Fabulous.com), Ron
Sheridan (Domain Sponsor.com), John Smrekar (RevenueDirect.com),
Sigmund Solares (Parked.com) and Brian Carr (Name Media),
with Derek Newman serving as moderator.
|
Ron
Sheridan (DomainSponsor.com) |
Sheridan said that many of the advertisers his
company deals with have told him that they get better results from
direct navigation (type-in) traffic than they do from paid search
ads on Google and Yahoo. That underscores what many domain owners
have always said - that frequently maligned parking pages serve a
real and valuable purpose for advertisers and consumers by bringing
them together in a more efficient way. Consumers find what they are searching for and advertisers make more sales - a win win for both
sides.
At the same time across
the hall the domain industry's image was being discussed in a
session led by panelists Jothan Frakes (DomainSponsor.com), Associated
Cities Executive Director Patrick Carleton, Modern
Domainer Magazine's Managing Editor Ezra James and Sedo's
General Counsel Jeremiah Johnston who also serves on the
Board of Directors of the Internet
Commerce Association (ICA). Attorney Steve
Sturgeon moderated the discussion.
|
|
|
| Johnston, who spends much
of his time on improving the image of the domain industry said it was important to distinguish between
legitimate domain investors and cybersquatters who are often
mistakenly lumped together in poorly researched reports at mainstream
media outlets.
Johnston called on industry professionals to contact
these outlets and call these factual errors to their attention so
that they understand the clear difference between the opposing
camps. At the same time he said we have to recognize and validate
the legitimate cause for concern that TM interests have and maintain
open, transparent business practices to change current perceptions.
Johnston added that the industry needs to engage the help of
lobbyists and public relations firms which is something the ICA has
been focused on.
|
Jeremiah
Johnston (Sedo.com) |
Soon after the day's
round of seminars ended it was time for the annual Name
Intelligence Awards Dinner. Conference organizers said the NI
Awards (named after Domain Roundtable's parent company) are meant to
recognize the best people and companies in various categories of the
domain and internet commerce industry. Name Intelligence CEO Jay
Westerdal handed out the awards (chosen by the thousands of members
of NI's popular DomainTools.com
site) to the following winners (some categories had multiple winners
as noted):
-
Best ICANN Reseller: eNom.com
-
Best Performing Parking Program: NameDrive.com,
Sedo.com
-
Best Place to Talk: DNForum.com
-
Community of the Year: NamePros.com
-
Largest Net Gain: GoDaddy.com
-
Outstanding Drop Catcher: eNom.com,
SnapNames.com
-
Outstanding Industry Coverage: DNJournal.com
-
Outstanding Secondary Market: Sedo.com,
Afternic.com
-
User’s Choice Award: GoDaddy.com,
Network Solutions, Tucows, Register.com, eNom.com,
Melbourne IT, Dotster, Name.com
Left
to right: Paul Stahura (eNom.com) and Nate Curran (GoDaddy.com)
accept awards from Domain Roundtable founder Jay
Westerdal
|
|
|
|
Peter
Lamson (NameMedia) and
Mark Klein (Sedo) with their awards |
Ron
Jackson (DNJournal.com) with
Outstanding Industry Coverage award |
After the awards dinner,
those who still had some energy left after being on the go for 13
straight hours were treated to a night out at Seattle billiards and
bowling emporium The Garage. I reluctantly sat that one out
and retired to my room to update our Lowdown
section and get a few hours of sleep before the conference's closing
day Wednesday.
TrafficZ hosted the final
breakfast Wednesday morning, then the crowd split up for the final two seminars that
ran concurrently starting at 10am. In one corner Steve Sturgeon (DomainNameLawyers.com)
and Victor Pitts (Moniker.com) talked about opportunities in Domain
Development and how to partner with other experts to get
sites off the ground. Sturgeon has been actively involved in putting
development groups together for the benefit of all parties
involved.
In the opposite corner,
the topic was SEO
and Domains. The panel for that session included Todd
Mintz (SEMPDX), Aaron Wall (SEOBook.com), John Andrews
(Upper Left Placement) and Dustin Woodard, with Derek
Newman moderating. This seminar focused primarily on
technical aspects of setting up domains in a way that will work best
with SEO techniques, including the use of folders and sub-domains
when setting up a domain's hierarchy.
| At 11am, it was time for
the grand finale - Domain Roundtable's first live auction,
an event that set a new technological standard for this increasingly
popular sales format. The entire 7-hour plus auction was shown live
on the Internet and bidders anywhere in the world were able to place
bids live in real time, competing with those who were actually at
the auction site at the Seattle Sheraton.
While the technology stole
the show the sales results were also very respectable with the final
total settling at just above $3.8
million. The auction got off to
|
Auctioneer
Ron Hannon (left) and Jay Westerdal
simultaneously field bids made from the floor and
others
placed live over the Internet by bidders around the world. |
| a rousing start with the
first five names selling, including Rebate.com at $1
million and Invention.com at $500,000 (the
complete list of auction results can be seen at Jay
Westerdal's DomainTools.com blog.)
|
While the auction was
very long (Westerdal said future sales will be completed in
a much shorter time frame) the ability to monitor what was going on
(and even bid) no matter where you were made the marathon easier to
run. The auction hall itself was a comfortable space with ample food
and drink available throughout the day, but many returned to their
rooms for an occasional break, monitoring the auction action on
their laptops while they were off the floor.
At about the midway
point, I took a refreshing six-block walk from the downtown hotel to
Seattle's world famous Pike Place waterfront market. I could
have followed the auction even there on an iPhone - but decided to
absorb some of the local color instead. Seattle is a beautiful city
and no one should visit without sampling some of its many delights.
Roundtable's first auction outing was so
successful it has really whetted people's appetites for the next go
round that will be staged at the conference's first show outside the
Seattle area coming up April 18-20, 2008 in San Francisco.
Westerdal promised the next one would be much improved and
considering how well the debut edition was received, that is
something to get excited about.
The curtain on the Domain Roundtable conference
was brought down with an open bar cocktail party in the hotel lounge
that ran all the way to closing time Wednesday night. Before heading to the party
many people got together in small groups for dinner at various
locations around town. I had the pleasure of joining Show Director Stephen
Douglas and his lovely wife Denise, Douglas's Executive
Assistant Lorenzo Green,
Stephen Webb (IAmDomainNames.com),
Angela Siefer (Executive Director, Grassroots.org)
and Seth Coman (Director of Ad Services for Modern
Domainer Magazine) for a memorable evening at the Metropolitan
Grill.
By the time we got back
to the hotel the closing party was well underway. Most of us stayed
until the lounge manager flipped on the lights and shooed everyone
out! After a good night's |
Left
to right: Denise Douglas, Ron Jackson,
Stephen Douglas, Stephen Webb, Lorenzo Green,
Angela Siefer & Seth Coman |
| sleep (a rarity at domain conferences) I
made the trip back to Florida Thursday and the long flight gave me
time to reflect on how rewarding the week had been. As always, many
new people were met and relationships with old friends and
acquaintances were strengthened.
The size of the crowd -
approximately 200 registrants - made it possible to spend meaningful
time with a lot of people. Larger crowds, like the 500-600 drawn to
T.R.A.F.F.I.C., create an environment sizzling with electricity but
there is also something to be said for the initimacy of smaller
gatherings. Another show promoter - Domain
Focus, who will be staging a conference in London
Sept. 6-7, have a cap of 250 people on their conferences for
that reason.
|
I learned a lot at Domain
Roundtable - no matter how long you have been in this business it
changes so rapidly there are always new things to absorb. That is
one of the things I love most about this industry - no two days are
ever the same! I'll close with a thank you to Jay Westerdal and
Stephen Douglas for a job well done. I'm already looking forward to
Roundtable round four next spring in San Francisco.
*****
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